Repubblica backs the Maradona boos while Sky says Allegri

Repubblica backs the Maradona boos while Sky says Allegri is safe

Two days after the 1-1 draw with Lazio, Tuesday's papers had moved on to the January window and who should leave. They could not agree on who is to blame.

by Gennaro SanninoTuesday 10 November, 08:39 CET· yesterday

Allegri al Napoli, sciolto ogni dubbio: ufficiale il contratto fino al 2029 — Foto: panorama.it

Napoli are tenth on 15 points and have gone three games without a win. On Sunday they could only draw 1-1 with Lazio at the Maradona. The papers on Tuesday 10 November looked mostly to January: who comes in, who goes out and how much the club spends. Under the transfer talk is one question, and the papers give opposite answers to it: who is to blame for this start to the season.

La Repubblica was the harshest. It called the boos at the Maradona "legitimate, inevitable and deserved". In its view, the club broke the promise it made in the summer. In August Aurelio De Laurentiis was promising trophies. Then came austerity and a transfer window that, Repubblica writes, never got going.

Sky Sport told a different story. It reports that the president has backed Massimiliano Allegri and that there will be no change of coach after the Lazio game. According to Ugolini, De Laurentiis is even ready to give the coach the signings he wants, probably a centre-forward and a central midfielder. The two accounts cannot both be right. One describes a president accused of austerity. The other describes the same president ready to spend.

Who comes in

Il Corriere dello Sport has a longer list than Sky. It names four targets: Varela, Bynoe-Gittens, Bakola and Coulibaly. That means a striker, a winger and two midfielders, so Sky talks about two signings and the Corriere about four.

La Gazzetta dello Sport focuses on Varela. It reports a deal of €15m plus Lucca or Giovane on loan to Monza. The player's agents say they are flattered. Benfica, the Gazzetta writes, have no buy-back clause but can match any offer.

Who goes out

The papers broadly agree on departures. The Corriere dello Sport says Lucca and Lang will probably leave in January, and that Anguissa and Lobotka could go too. TuttoMercatoWeb puts a price on it: Napoli could accept between €15m and €20m for the Dutchman.

The Corriere also describes Lang's Sunday. He was booed throughout and answered with a hand cupped to his ear, in an incident that "blew up at the final whistle". Lucca was booed too. Il Mattino reports that De Luca has called on the club to step in. On Lucca, the Corriere and the Gazzetta agree that whether he is sold or included in the Varela deal, his future no longer looks to be at Napoli.

Repubblica also writes about McTominay. Talks on a new contract have stalled. Napoli offered €6-7m, his camp came down to €8-9m, and the player wants guarantees about the club's sporting plans. It is the same argument as Repubblica's piece on the boos. The paper doubts the club's project, and now the Scot appears to doubt it too.

Our view

Repubblica is right. Those boos were not supporters throwing a tantrum, and anyone who calls them noise did not watch the first half against Lazio. But the papers are rushing ahead to January when the problem is now. Napoli v Torino is 11 days away and these are the players who will play it.

Nobody is asking Allegri to explain the "good game" he saw on Sunday. Nobody is asking Giovanni Manna why a squad needs four signings by November. And the Corriere dello Sport treats the most telling image of the day as mere superstition: Napoli's coach, in his own stadium, covering his eyes at Lazio's set pieces.